Vanilla Days
by I am Cara
Summary: Goes from Episodes 3 to 6. When Anakin gets his soul 'consumed' by the Dark Side, what if it actually physically splits from him? The good half of him gets sent to an eerie Phantom Planet. Anakin's POV. AU
1. Prologue

Vanilla Days

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Disclaimer: S.W. doesn't belong to me.

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AN: Anakin's POV. Forgive me if I mess up on where they live and stuff. And, don't worry, it'll get less confusing soon.

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I can remember the old, warm days of my life.

The flower scented wind blowing across the fields on Naboo, lazily rolling away. Those days. That was when Padme was with me.

I can remember them.

I can taste the delicious cooked food my dearest wife made for me. A long time has passed since she has done this. A long time has passed since I've seen her, for that matter.

But I can remember it. All of it.

Except for one chapter of my life. The darkest chapter of my life.

Do I remember it? No.

Do I know what happened? Yes.

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Padme and I lived on Naboo before moving to our home in Coruscant. But then war and politics began to eat us alive, more than when it did when we were young, so I spent most of my time there on a ship.

Not much, if any, time for me and Padme. She didn't laugh like she used to, if she ever did. I only saw her when we retired for the night after a long day's work - and she'd usually be crying. That was it. No sweet kisses, no more making love, no happiness. Nothing. The marriage was already going downhill.

But good fortune finally waddled around. Padme was holding my child. And I was the happiest man alive.

But then, the visions started coming. I woke up one night seeing Padme die in childbirth.

I was frightened.

My dreams were killing me. I was afraid to go to sleep for what my dreams might hold. There was no peace in the day or night. Ever since I was little, my mother had told me that my thoughts were my own, and no one could take them away. My dreams had been violated. And I submitted myself to fear.

I guess, that's where it started.

Padme 'reassured' me nothing was going to happen to her. But I knew more than that.

And then, I saw Master Windu get murdered. Chancellor Palpatine told me he could save Padme if I joined him...

I can't remember anymore.

Des-Edri told me I had been 'consumed by the Dark Side,' which explains everything that happened since that day. I don't know where she is now, or if she's been killed yet, but I hope the best for her.

Here is my story.


	2. Earthia

**Chapter One **

**Earthia**

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Disclaimer: I do not own S.W.

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A/N: How'dya like it so far? Keep reading, I PROMISE you its one of those stories everything makes sense so far.

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"I will do anything you say, master. Just please, don't let anything happen to her..."

I dropped to my knees as these words escaped my mouth. And not out of respect.

The world began to spin. It was as if someone had put me in a washing machine and turned it on. Blackness spun around the corners of my vision, and a roaring in my ears began. I heard a tiny moan, I think it was myself, and heard the faint cackle of Darth Sidious in front of me. I closed my eyes, and gave myself in to this torture.

_BLAM._

I opened my eyes, and saw blue sky dotted with clouds.

I closed my eyes again.

Preparing to wake up to the hideous Sidious, I opened them.

The sky was still there.

I listened. There was silence, except for birds chirping in some far off trees. I raised my head just over my chest. There _were_ no trees. In fact, I guessed, the birds probably had to be miles off, and it was just so quiet that they echoed.

The sweet grass brushed me, and when I sat up, I saw I had left an imprint. I pinched myself. Ow. Not a dream.

Despite my beautiful surroundings, I was terrified. Thousands of questions ran through my head. I was on my feet in a matter of minutes, lightsaber out.

There was nothing but hills, birds, grass, and me. I listened to the silence, before pulling my hair.

Ow. It officially wasn't a dream.

I thought about what I could've done so that I was condemned here. I had given myself to the Dark...

No.

I hadn't.

I was a Jedi. I'd never do that. Never.

The thought led a mental assault on my mind. In seconds, I was back on the grass, pulling at my head and feeling ready to die. I held the lightsaber above my neck. I didn't. I couldn't have. But I did.

"It's okay... Please, it's alright now."

The woman's voice startled me. The lightsaber that had been ready to kill me was now aimed at the direction from which the voice came. I looked up.

The woman had her hands up, clearly unarmed. She was about 24, with longbrown hair. Her eyes were blue, and she wore the weirdest clothing I've ever seen. They were what she called 'jeans' and a 'tank-top.'

She was pretty, but my eyes were only for Padme.

She put a hand on my back and gave me a pat. "What's your name?"

I felt like a child again. "Anakin."

A pause, and she made a motion to continue.

"Skywalker."

There was an awkward silence, and I wondered if it was possible she'd heard of me and hated me. But, no, she smiled and held out her hand. "My name's Des-Edri."

I sat back. "Do you happen to know where we are?"I asked.

She smiled. "You're in Earthia."

I looked at her curiously. I'd never heard of Earthia before. "Is that a planet?"

She nodded, then shook her head. "It's weird," she told me, "It is and it isn't."

"What?"

"Although everything you feel here is real, it isn't. What you are sitting on right now is not a physical planet."

I jumped to conclusions. "So I'm...dead?"

Des-Edri chuckled to herself. "Not yet."


	3. The Manor

**Chapter Two**

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**Disclaimer:** Ah own nuthin'.

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**A/N:** Just re-watched Episode 6. Now I'm crying. I had never known Hayden Christensen was in that one! I only thought he was in Episodes 1 & 2. Gah, I'm such a wuss.

At least his hair grew back in heaven.

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The warm air quickly grew cold as night turned. Before long, I was huddling in my coat, and my metal arm made the cold all the more worse.

But Des-Edri had been through this all before.

"Come back with me," she said. It wasn't a request; it was a demand.

"To where?" I asked, and it had meant simply to be curious, but she took my tone the wrong way, "There's nothing out here."

Her voice grew cold. "Maybe if you got up and stopped trying to take your head off, you'd find something."

I was quiet. When around an angry woman, remember your chivalry.

"I'm sorry, madam. Forgive my anxiousness."

She grinned as though she had been acting all along, and made a quick gesture to follow her. We walked on for about an hour, and I found myself trying to hold back shivers. It was so cold, yet I didn't understand how the crickets, whom were so noisily chirping, lived.

"It'sme you'll have to forgive," Des-Edri said as we neared the top of a hill, "It's not much."

I prepared my self to see a hut, but I saw a palace.

Well, okay, it wasn't a palace, but to a hungry and freezing Jedi, it was beautiful. I looked down upon the country-style home and was amazed a single woman could've built it by herself.

"You... did that?" I asked, eyes wide open. She snorted. "Me? By myself? No way."

"So, there are others here, then..." I said, waiting for her to answer with a yes. But she looked me in the eye darkly and said, "Not anymore."

I opened my mouth to ask what that meant, but she was already trotting down the hill towards her home. So I followed.

Inside, the furnishings were lovely. It reminded me of something Obi-wan had taught me about human's homes- it looked like a cross between a plantation manor and a country farmhouse mixed together.

Des-Edri led me to a staircase and pointed to it. "Up there," she ordered, "Is your room. It's the last one to the right, _all_ the way down the hall."

"Thank you," I muttered, and ran up, only to stop and try to take in what I saw.

The hallways went on forever, and I wasn't joking when I said that. Apparently, I had looked at the mansion from the wrong angle when I saw it, because I couldn't see the end of the hallway to the left. I looked right, and it was about forty feet away.

I opened the door to a clean, well set room. It was almost like an inn, with a king-sized bed (hand-made), and a wardrobe. It had it's own tiny bathroom, too, and I could tell why- who would want to go searching for a bathroom in that hall?

I sat on the bed and took off my coat.

"Is it good enough for you?" said a voice, and I looked up to see Des-Edri standing in my doorway. I jumped a little, because I hadn't noticed she came in.

"This house... is _huge_," I breathed, looking at the wallpaper, "How long did it take to build?"

"14 years," she said, and I stopped. "What?" I asked. Nothing this huge could be built in that short amount of time.

She sat down next to me. "I'll need to explain everything to you if you want to know why,"she said, "And I warn you, you'd better write it all down or have a good memory, because it's _long_."

"I'm listening," I said.

"You were 'eaten' by the Dark Side," Des-Edri said, and my lightsaber flew off my belt and into her hand. I tensed a bit, wondering what she was planning to do. I had no idea she could use the Force.

"'Eaten?'" I asked, "But Master Obi-wan told me that when someone was taken over by the Dark Side, it was only your soul..."

"Has Master Obi-wan ever been consumed?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Then how would he know? In fact, it is the one thing that the Jedi know very little about. That is why they tell you that you're gone forever once you've been taken - because they don't want anyone coming back." Des-Edri shifted in her seat a little. "They're afraid their worst enemies will come back if they figure out this place."

"Okay," I thought out loud, "The Jedi don't tell anyone about Earthia because they're afraid.."

"Yes." Desi smiled. "Exactly. You've physically split from your evil self. And, as all people who walk in your path, you shall stay here until you become good again."

The question that came into my mind, I dared to ask.

"And what if I don't become good again?"

Desi stared at me.

"Then you'll die here."

I took a gulp of air and tried to slow my calming heart. I was going to die here. I knew it. "I'll... I'll never see Padme again, will I?" I asked. My throat tightened a bit.

"I couldn't tell you that," Desi said, patting me on the back. "You can only pray that your son will lead you back down the right path."

These words whipped me from my misery.

"My... son?" I asked, a warm, loving feeling taking over. Padme... We've done it! You've given me a child!

Des-Edri smiled, showing her straight, white teeth. It was as if she knew how I felt, and felt the same. "Congratulations."

But I needed to control myself. Getting depressed and then giddy within five minutes would only succeed to make me look like a fool. Calmly, I asked, "What's his name?"

Des-Edri flashed her teeth again. "Luke."


	4. In the Night

**Chapter Three**

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Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars, only Des-Edri.**

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**A/N:** Is it a little easier to understand now? That explains how Darth Vader knew he had a son when he had never met Luke before... Clever, clever me. It'll get better sometime soon. Please review!

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That night, I slept. And dreams haunted me once more. But they weren't about Padme anymore.

They were about me.

I could hear myself moan, and I tried to wake myself up as I tossed and turned, but the dream didn't seem to want to let me go until it was done.

I was a Sith Lord. Clad in a black robe, I marched thousands of clone troopers into the... Jedi Temple, where they attacked. I saw myself killing younglings, with some padawans along with them.

I woke up with a gasp. I was drenched in sweat. The sheets lay sticking to my back as I took heavy breaths to try and calm myself.

My metal arm was holding something.

I looked over to find my lightsaber in my hand.

But Des-Edri had it. It was in her room, locked away so I wouldn't try to take my own life in the night. And I didn't use the Force to try and get it back. Frankly, I didn't care if she had it or not.

I sat myself up and inspected the handle by the beam of moonlight trickling in. It was still mine, alright. I was glad to see that nothing had been fiddled around with or altered. As much as Desi was my friend, when you suddenly appear on a phantom planet, you can't trust everyone.

From somewhere in the darkness, I heard the cry of a little boy.

I froze.

The voice echoed a bit, and stopped. It didn't sound like it was coming from my room, so I slid out of bed and opened the door. The left corridor was eerily lit, with tiny candles burning outside each door on hanging candleabras. They went on forever, until all you could see were dots down the hall.

I hearda rustling behind me,and turned to see Des-Edri. She was staring at me. My heart jumped. Something was wrong with me. I was losing my perceptiveness, my senses. I couldn't even tell when someone was behind me.

But she held no weapon. Her eyes searched me as she asked, "I heard you walking around up here. Something wrong?"

I gripped my lightsaber, although did not turn it on.

Desi stared, looking. She was like a deer in headlights- she didn't move a muscle. "H-How did you get that?" she stammered. "Did you break into my room or something?"

I suddenly realized howunreasonable I was being. She was as surprised as I was. "No, I... I just found it in my hand when I woke up. I don't know how it got there."

I had expected Des-Edri to be shocked, confused, and maybe a little scared, but an odd, cloudy look came into her eyes. Sounding like she was in a trance, she muttered, "You heard voices, didn't you." It was not a question.

She headed for the staircase, but she stopped at the top of it and said, "Often your senses will lie to you here. There's no cause for alarm."

Her eyes locked into mine. I virtually felt a spark. Somewhere, some other time, I had looked into her eyes like that.

She seemed to notice it, too.

But if she did, she didn't let it surprise her. "G'night," she said, and walked down the steps, the patter of her feet echoing.

I went to sleep and had no more bad dreams that night.


	5. Breakfast

**Chapter Four**

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Disclaimer: I only own Desi in this story, none of the actual characters.

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I opened my eyes to sunlight the next morning, streaming in through the window. Something else had happened to me in the night, although it wasn't bad dreams. I pulled off the heavy comforter and looked at the sheets. They were plastered to my legs like molding - I had been sweating a ton, I guessed.

Despite the sticky feeling, I pulled on a robe from the wardrobe and went into the large kitchen. Alone at a table, Des-Edri was sitting, in a robe herself, only hers was purple. She was drinking a brown liquid from a mug and reading a book. I smelled an aroma in the air that reminded me of sugar, and something that smelled like... Well, who knows. It was from the drink in her cup.

I pulled out a chair and sat, hands hanging at my sides, watching her.

Awkward position. Awkward, awkward position.

It took her a while to notice me, or at least for her to care. She looked over the rim of her cup as she was taking a sip and I saw her eyes flash in a grin. Yes, when she put down the cup, she was smiling. She rested the book on the table, parted in the middle.

A smile. "Anakin... Thought you'd never wake up."

I forced a laugh. I was to hungry to laugh. The kitchen smelled wonderfully, but pardon me for acting stupid, I couldn't see any food at all.

She didn't notice that either. She picked up the book again, sipping her drink while never taking her eyes off the pages. It was only about ten minutes of another awkward silence when my stomach rumbled loudly.

She looked up, and her face flashed at least six emotions.

"What was _that_?"

"Nothing."

She looked at me suspiciously for a moment, before asking, "Something wrong?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, it's just..."

"Just what?"

I clasped my hands on the table. "Just... pardon me for being rude, ma'am, but I was wondering where the food is."

A silence, and I watched her comprehend what I had said, as if she'd never heard those words before. Then, her face cracked into a grin.

She pointed to a cupboard. "Everything's in there. But just be sure not to let the dishes fall out."

I went over to the cupboard and opened it.

BONK, and a plastic bowl fell on my head.

I rubbed my head, laughing. She laughed, too. For a split second, we looked at each other, our eyes locked. I had the familiar feeling again.

But Desi quickly broke contact as she picked up her book again.

We ate a cheerful breakfast, me eating a slice of bread with poured honey on it, and she drinking what she called, 'coffee.' I was in such a good mood that I almost forgot about the previous night. Almost.

But Des-Edri had to remind me of it. Washing her mug in the sink after breakfast was done, she said, "About last night..."

My voice, as usual, was low. "I... don't know what happened."

A silence, and the feeling in the air was something I haven't felt before. It was heavy. Des-Edri leaned against the kitchen counter, watching me intently. Suddenly, she came over to me and grabbed my face, making me watch her. Her voice was almost a whisper as she searched me with her vibrant blue eyes.

"Oh, but I think you do."

I pulled back a little, uncomfortable. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was about to kiss me. But her tone said otherwise.

"I honestly don't know," I said.

There was a silence. "Come with me," Desi ordered. We went outside.

We marched past... hills. There was really nothing else out there, unless you considered grass and air. We reached a hill, and standing at the top of it, you could see a long forest below. I was amazed. The chatter of birds coming from it was incredibly loud, and hearing them up-front left me no doubt that they could echo on for miles.

We trotted down into the trees, and soon we were being smothered by them. I tripped a few times and splattered mud on my boots, but didn't care much. The forest was dense and the underbrush was thick, but we had to go where we had to go.

Des-Edri stopped, and I peered over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

Amongst the trees there was a small circle of stone tile, cut perfectly. There was a creek gently rolling around it. I studied the stone. It was built into the ground, and was about six inches off of it. The creek had evidently changed it's path over time and washed over the stone, but the stone was maybe four inches higher than it. Only large splashes of water could get it wet.

Desi apparently didn't care about her shoes either; she splashed straight through the creek and stood on the stone. "You gonna take all day, Anakin?"

I came after her, and we sat on the circle. It was cold - and wet. It was more than wet. The creek kept sloshing over, and flecks of water were smacking me in the face.

"This is the only place I can tell you the full story of Earthia where it is not considered a sin," said Des-Edri, as though she had recited this many times. "Except for last night. I didn't reveal to you any information that was valuable last night."

I nodded.

"Anakin," she leaned over, "Do you know your subconscious mind?"

I didn't know what she meant, so I said, "Yes."

She smiled, almost evilly. "Then you _do_ know what happened last night."

So _that's_ what she was getting at.

"No, I don't. I heard voices, had terrible nightmares, and that was it," I said, trying not to make myself sound like a fool, "Could happen to anyone."

"No, it couldn't. Or, at least, not the type you encountered. You weren't going crazy, Anakin."

She paused.

"That was real."

I looked at the water lapping around me. Desi snapped her fingers, drawing my attention back to her.

"Earthia is a Phantom planet."

I looked up.

A Phantom planet.

Some of the most dangerous planets in the universe. They were invisible to the naked eye, and even robots or pilot ships couldn't pick them up. And unlike other planets, who stayed in their orbit, Phantom planets drifted - Not out of their galaxy, but in whatever position they wanted.

And anyone who went there never came back. Like a phantom, they were not solids, nor liquids, nor gas.. You could fly a ship right through one without hitting anything.

A phantom planet.

I was lost.


	6. River Explanation

Chapter Five

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Disclaimer: Des-Edri Qetana is mine. Only.

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A/N: Tareh is pronounced "Tair." There's a LOT of explaining in this chapter, but don't worry. There are still tons of things I plan on throwing in, so don't try to predict what happens! Please review! 

Stone Cold - Yes, it was, but you have to admit he's better looking than the old guy he put in originally. -is a fan of the newer episodes-

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"You see that?" Desi said, pointing towards the sky. I followed her finger, and saw a tiny... what was it, a planet or a moon? Ah, well. I didn't know. But it was all blue littered with patches of green, and it was shrouded in a mist. 

"What is that?"

"That's Earth."

Earth. Obi-wan had taught me about it. That's where humans originated from. I stared at the planet, watching the mists swirl around it slowly.

"Earthia was once a sister of Earth," Des-Edri went on, "It was an exact copy. By the humans, it was called Tareh. The two planets rotated around each other _and_ they both went around the sun. Because humans were less intelligent than they are now, they could find no way to make contact with Tareh at the time, and they grew afraid anything living upon it would be hostile."

I listened intently, wanting to catch everything she said. This might be the only time I'd hear it.

"So they sent up what they called a 'missile'. And they blew half of it off. It killed billions."

I said nothing. I hadn't thought people had once lived here, and my soul mourned for those who were lost.

And a missile? How old and... barbaric. I hadn't heard that word in years, and it was from my history lessons. Really, the people from the 20th century were so quick to attack.

"The missile sent the planet spinning off it's axis. It was actually spinning out of it's orbit. It went wild, and I mean, _wild_. You can't imagine the destruction it caused here."

"I've never fully found all the pieces of Tareh. After the biggest explosion, we had volcanoes erupting and earthquakes and everything. Some of the chunks of rock that flew back towards us killed even more."

I was amazed at how emotionless she was. As though it meant nothing.

"So, for some odd reason, the humans assumed Tareh was gone. Who knows why? Not me. And in their books, it was written down as Earthia."

"Does this planet have an invisible shield over it?" I asked curiously. If I could see Earth, why couldn't Earth see Earthia?

"Not exactly..." Des-Edri said, "It's more on a spiritual level rather than a technological level. As soon as the chaos settled down in Tareh, there was a special group of about two hundred people, all unrelated, that had survived. Myself included," she added on.

"We elected a leader, Kwase Zui. We all decided it would be best if..." she left off and giggled, before starting to laugh. I sat watching her, pondering. She was trying to say something through her short bursts.

After she had calmed down, she took one look at my face and said, "Oh, Anakin, don't look at me like that. You're making me uncomfortable."

"Sorry."

"Anyway..." and she cracked up again. I waited, patiently, wondering what could possibly so funny, or embarrassing, that she couldn't say it.

"I... don't... think... I... can tell... you," she heaved, in hysterics.

I sighed. "It's only the two of us. I promise I won't make fun of you. I mean, it had to be a good idea if you're still here today, right?"

Her hair was ruffled, her face was red, and her eyes were smiling. Yes, she was pretty. But I loved someone named Padme Amidala, and no one was as beautiful as her.

"Okay, well, we all decided that... since we were all unrelated, we'd try to... bring back the population, if you know what I mean."

Inside my head, I was laughing as hard, if not harder, than she had been. But I needed to make my face remain calm, cool...

"That's not so bad. You tried to keep yourselves alive," I said, stifling a snort, "It's completely natu..."

And I couldn't hold anything in anymore.

We bothlaughed, me with my hand to my head still trying to contain the child within.Slowly, we calmed down, and I asked her to tell me the rest. She agreed, glad to get off the subject.

"We've gotten off topic. It's unclean to talk about one's personal life in this spot."

The icy water being absorbed by my pants reminded me.

"So all the other women had children, save I. By this time, the Jedi Council had received word of the humans blowing up Tareh, and they quickly sent a representative to see if we were alright and still breathing. Little did she know."

Desi pulled her hair behind her ears.

"Her name was Raat, and she came onto this planet a few days after the field was put up."

She paused.

"Kwase Zui was planning to use our children as an army against us - and army we couldn't kill out of love. As soon as he destroyed all of us, he'd take our children, make them have more children, and so on and so forth. His goal was to finally create a population large enough to rebuild the part of Earthia that was missing. I guess the whole point was to rule a planet all by himself. We hadn't realized we'd elected a dictator.

Kwase Zui... I'd never heard of him. I'd have to ask Obi-wan when I saw him again.

"The spirits of our families and friends, and anyone who was killed by the missile, grew angry at Kwase for doing this, and grew angry at us for being such dumbasses and not seeing him for what he was. Can't blame them. So they created a spiritual force field around Earthia, letting anyone in but not out."

"What does this have to do with Raat and the Jedi Council?" I asked, my attention span drawing near it's end.

"Hold your horses. I'm getting to it."

I waited.

"Raat was sent to try to save the Earthos (**A/N:** People of Earthia). Only problem was, she couldn't get back to the council and report that we were friendly."

A pause.

"She died here."

"Shortly after this, we killed Kwase Zui and I was elected leader. But the Jedi had found out Raat was dead somehow, and assumed we killed her. And history repeats itself. The Jedi Council were going to finally destroy the planet, with all of us on it."

"They unleashed a virus,and killed my friends and their children. They dropped like flies. And they assumed I was dead, too, and decided to blow up the rest of the planet."

I listened to her, not wanting to interrupt. It was apparent the memory was painful to recall, and restrained myself from asking anything that would make her think harder.

"Before the virus had been unleashed, the group helped me build my home. It is now about 78 years old."

...Was she lying? Or was she really that old? I really didn't know what to believe. But I said nothing.

The wind picked up, sending a chill through my wet abdomen.

"I know it sounds weird, Anakin, but every bit of this is true," she reminded me.

"So, it gets worse?" I asked.

Her mouth twitched a bit. "I asked that the spirits who created the force field to save me from being destroyed by the Jedi. I asked them right in this spot, where we sit. The reason for the icy cold water on such a warm planet? The coldness of this river is the depth of the pain I felt. But most of it's gone now."

..._Oh._

"In return for the spirit's generousity, I was to stay here for as long as needed, and I was to try to save any Jedi whom happened to turn down the wrong path."

She pointed. "That means you."

I asked, "Am I the only one?"

"There were two others."

"They're dead now," I assumed.

"They were killed."

She stood up, and I watched as water streamed down her wet clothes. It tricked down her leg, dripped off her sleeves...

I stood up, and we walked back to the manor, making small talk as we went. But really, I was thinking about everything she had told me. And unanswered questions ran through my head.

Where were the bodies of everyone lost? How had Earthia survived an attack from the Jedi Council? If anything could get into the force field, was there a chance of being hit by a piece of Tareh? What did she mean when she had said, "What happens there will happen here,"? Why didn't the Jedi have written records of the attack?

Well. Now a few things made sense.

Before I get myself confused, I'd better leave it at that.

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A/N: I can understand if you don't like the whole history thing with spirits and rivers and 'population' issues (Neither do I...), but the point of this chapter was to answer the basic "Where is he and why was he sent there?" question. if you think that's the whole thing, think again. More will come soon, and it will be better! 


	7. The Thing

Chapter 6

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Disclaimer: Only Des-Edri is mine.

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A/N: Very short, kind of creepy... Will make longer chapters soon.

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I took a long bath that night before dinner. As I sat, bubbles popping lightly around me, I wanted to see if I could answer some questions on my own from the information given. Let's see... Desi wasn't upset because all her sadness had poured into the stream, making it cold and icy... But how did she survive an attack from the Jedi Council?

I heard a creak at the door, and my head turned in a flash to see who it was. In a fluster, I started getting up, saying, "There's somebody in-"

I made an "oof" as I stood up, slipped, and sat back down. Water splashed around me.

"Des-Edri?" I called. I don't know, would she peep...?

"Yes?" she called back.

Her voice was coming from the kitchen.

I didn't answer, but wrapped a nearby towel around my waist and stepped out. The square tile was warm, probably from heating pipes below it. The wet '_plop_' of my footsteps echoed in the medium-sized room. A candle on the wall flickered silently, and tiny tile soldiers were cursed for eternity to dance on the walls as decorations.

I went over to the door, and another chill ran through me. There couldn't be someone else in this house, could there be? I'd have thought Desi would tell me if there was...

What if it wasn't a someone?

I don't know where all this fear had come from, but it was not what I was trained to do as a Jedi. Not forbidden, but a Jedi was to be strong in all aspects. I felt too human to be me.

With a sudden burst of bravery, I pushed open the bathroom door, which gave me a view of the left corridor.

The bravery left me, and was replaced by sharp fear, leaving me with my legs weak.

Someone, or something, was running silently down the hall.


End file.
